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Anonymity
Definitions '''Anonymity' (from the Greek word anonymia) is Overview "To enable anonymity of an individual, there must exist a set of individuals that appear to have the same attribute(s) as the individual. To the attacker or the observer, these individuals must appear indistinguishable from each other. The set of all such individuals is known as the anonymity set, and membership of this set may vary over time. "The composition of the anonymity set depends on the knowledge of the observer or attacker. Thus, anonymity is relative with respect to the observer or attacker. An initiator may be anonymous only within a set of potential initiators — its initiator anonymity set — which itself may be a subset of all individuals that may initiate communications. Conversely, a recipient may be anonymous only within a set of potential recipients — its recipient anonymity set. Both anonymity sets may be disjoint, may overlap, or may be the same."Privacy Considerations for Internet Protocols, at 19. Online anonymity Internet users, both individuals and organizations, often want or need anonymity for a variety of legitimate reasons. Communications privacy laws,See 47 U.S.C. §§222, 531. health privacy regulations''See generally'' 45 C.F.R. Part 164, Subpart E (Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information). and financial privacy laws''See'' 15 U.S.C. §6809 (defining "nonpublic personal information"). all prohibit disclosure of some analog to "personally identifiable information." However, defining "personally identifiable information" is not simple. In some cases, a single piece of information could be enough to identify an individual; in other cases, multiple facts might be required. For example, some claim that an aggregate of gender, ZIP code and birth date are unique for about 87% of the U.S. population.Wendy Davis, "Court: IP Addresses Are Not Personally Identifiable Information," Mediapost, July 6, 2009 (full-text). The right to speak anonymously without fear of government reprisal is protected by a number of laws, including federal whistleblower laws''See, e.g.,'' 18 U.S.C. §1514A (protecting employees who blow the whistle on publicly traded companies); 42 U.S.C. §7622 (protecting employees who disclose possible violations of the Clean Air Act); 49 U.S.C. §31105 (protecting employees who disclose possible violations of safety regulations for commercial motor vehicles); see also WhistleBlowerLaws (full-text). and the First Amendment.See, e.g., McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, 514 U.S. 334, 357 (1995) (full-text) ("Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority."). The protections for anonymous speech are broad. People who are actually engaging in expressive or political speech are afforded even fuller protections.Reno v. ACLU, 521 U.S. 844, 870 (1997) (full-text). As a result, anonymity is a complex issue. Unfortunately, criminals also take advantage of online anonymity as a safe haven from which to launch attacks on Internet users. The challenge is to balance the apparently conflicting needs of privacy and security. Anonymity vs. security "Anonymity, in a country that provides for freedom of speech, can have an anti-democratic effect. The effect of anonymity in democratic states can be to cut the link between citizen and personal responsibility, damaging the essential communal nature of politics. Anonymity can allow the expression of opinions without fear of retaliation, such as an employee revealing misdeeds by an employer. In a country that provides freedom of speech, it can also undermine the legitimacy of democratic institutions and, as a result, weaken the protections they provide for civil liberties."The Significance of the Frontier: Why Privacy and Cybersecurity Clash, at 8. Anonymity vs. privacy Privacy and anonymity are not the same. "Security dictates that one should be able to detect and catch individuals conducting illegal behavior, such as hacking, conspiring for terrorist acts, and conducting fraud. . . . Legitimate needs for privacy (such as the posting of anonymous bulletin board items) should be allowed, but the ability to conduct harmful anonymous behavior without responsibility and repercussions — in the name of privacy — should not."Critical Information Infrastructure Protection and the Law: An Overview of Key Issues, at 70. References See also * Anonymiser * Anonymity and cyberwarfare * Anonymize * Anonymized information * Anonymized record * Anonymizing tool * Anonymous * Anonymous-entity resolution * Anonymous communications system * Anonymous credentials * Anonymous identifier * Anonymous post * Anonymous poster * Anonymous remailer * Anonymous speech * Anonymous web browsing Category:Internet Category:security Category:privacy